[Federal Register: February 25, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 37)]
[Notices]
[Page 9375-9377]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25fe05-100]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Availability of an Amended Environmental Assessment and Receipt
of an Application for Renewal and Amendment of an Incidental Take
Permit for Beach Driving and Related Activities, in Volusia County, FL
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The County of Volusia (Applicant) seeks to renew and amend
incidental take permit (ITP) TE811813. The Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) issued this ITP on November 22, 1996, pursuant to section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended.
The ITP authorizes take of loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green
(Chelonia mydas), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Kemp's ridley
(Lepidochelys kempii), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea
turtles incidental to the Applicant's regulation of vehicular traffic
on 35.6 linear miles of beaches under its jurisdiction in Volusia
County, Florida. Among the proposed amendments to the ITP, the
Applicant requests incidental take authority for the piping plover
(Charadrius melodus).
The mitigation and minimization measures outlined in the
Applicant's amended Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to address the
effects of vehicle beach access and related activities on federally
listed species are described further in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section below. The Service announces the availability of the HCP and
our Environmental Assessment (EA) for the incidental take renewal and
amendment application. Copies of the HCP and EA may be obtained by
making a request to the Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). Requests must
be in writing to be processed. This notice is provided pursuant to
section 10 of the Endangered Species Act and NEPA regulations (40 CFR
1506.6).
DATES: Written comments on the permit application, supporting
documentation, EA and HCP should be sent to the Service's Regional
Office (see ADDRESSES) and should be received on or before April 26,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the application, HCP, and EA may
obtain copies by writing the Service's Southeast Regional Office,
Atlanta, Georgia. Documents will also be available for public
inspection by appointment during normal business hours at the Regional
Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30345
(Attn: Endangered Species Permits), or Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 6620 Southpoint Drive South, Suite 310, Jacksonville,
Florida 32216-0912. Written data or comments concerning the
application, supporting documentation, EA, or HCP should be submitted
to the Regional Office. Requests for the documentation must be in
writing to be processed. Comments must be submitted in writing to be
adequately considered in the Service's decision-making process. Please
reference permit number TE811813 in such comments, or in requests for
the documents discussed herein.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Dell, Regional Permit
Coordinator, (see ADDRESSES above), telephone: 404/679-7313; or Mr.
Michael Jennings, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, Jacksonville Field
Office, (see ADDRESSES above), telephone: 904/232-2580, extension 113.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you wish to comment, you may submit
comments by any one of several methods. Please reference permit number
TE811813 in such comments. You may mail comments to the Service's
Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). You may also comment via the Internet
to david_dell@fws.gov. Please submit comments over the Internet as an
ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of
encryption. Please also include your name and return address in your
internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the Service
that we have received your internet message,
[[Page 9376]]
contact us directly at either of the telephone numbers listed below
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Finally, you may hand deliver
comments to either of the Service offices listed below (see ADDRESSES).
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of
respondents, available for public review during regular business hours.
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address
from the administrative record. We will honor such requests to the
extent allowable by law. There may also be other circumstances in which
we would withhold from the administrative record a respondent's
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and
address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your
comments. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. We will
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their
entirety.
Piping plovers are small, migratory shorebirds that breed in
central and eastern Canada and the Great Plains and eastern United
States. They are typically found on low energy coastal beaches, river
sandbars, and sparsely vegetated lake shorelines where they feed on a
variety of invertebrates under the soil surface. The breeding season
begins with the arrival of mature birds as early as mid-March and
fledging of young can last through July. At the conclusion of the
breeding season, piping plovers migrate to wintering areas that include
south Atlantic, Gulf coast, and Caribbean beaches. Numbers of piping
plovers are estimated periodically based on surveys conducted within
three geographically broad breeding areas: Atlantic Coast, Northern
Great Plains, and Great Lakes populations. Recent surveys indicate that
the numbers of plovers in the Northern Great Plains breeding population
are in decline. Within the Great Lakes population, numbers are low and
have not substantially changed since the bird was placed on the
endangered species list. Overall, numbers of plovers in the Atlantic
Coast breeding population are increasing, but decreases have been noted
in several localities within this population.
Sea turtles spend the majority of their lives in the sea, and most
can be found in warm tropical and subtropical waters. The leatherback
is an exception, traveling as far north as Labrador, Canada, and Alaska
and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and southern New
Zealand. Adult green sea turtles are herbivores, while all other sea
turtles are carnivores. During the nesting season, which in the
continental United States occurs between March and October, adult
female sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Females excavate pits
using their front and rear flippers where they lay 50 to 160 eggs about
the size of a ping-pong ball. The pits are then covered by sand and the
females return to the sea. Eggs incubate for about 50 to 70 days. Upon
hatching, young sea turtles make their way up through the sand and
immediately travel to the ocean. The most recent report to the United
States Congress lists the status of sea turtles as follows: Kemp's
ridley and green sea turtles populations are increasing, hawksbill and
leatherback sea turtle populations are declining, and the status of the
loggerhead sea turtle population is uncertain.
The original ITP authorized take of loggerhead, green, leatherback,
Kemp's ridley, and hawksbill sea turtles in Volusia County, Florida,
for a period of five (5) years. The Applicant proposes to renew the
ITP, with modifications, for a period of twenty-five (25) years. In
this renewal, the Applicant also requests incidental take of piping
plovers. The proposed taking of these federally listed species is
incidental to otherwise legal vehicular access, and access related
activities, on the beaches of Volusia County, pursuant to Volusia Home
Rule Charter (Section 205, Laws of Florida Special Acts, Chapter 70-
966, as amended). The beaches under the jurisdiction of the Applicant
encompass 35.6 linear miles.
The Service issued the original ITP on November 22, 1996, pursuant
to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. The original ITP has been
administratively amended or modified ten times since the original
issuance date. The Applicant notified the Service on October 19, 2001,
of its desire to renew the existing ITP, but the Service was unable to
take final action on the Applicant's renewal request prior to the
expiration date of the original ITP, which was on December 31, 2001.
Therefore, pursuant to 50 CFR 13.22(c), the Applicant has continued
activities previously permitted under the original ITP, as amended and
modified, while the Service considers and reviews the renewal request.
This public notice is a required part of the Service's review of the
renewal request.
The Applicant seeks renewal of its ITP to authorize take of
loggerhead, green, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, and hawksbill sea
turtles. Although not covered by the original ITP, the Applicant has
requested authorization to take piping plovers. In its previous HCP,
the Applicant determined, and the Service concurred, that piping
plovers likely would not be taken incidentally to the authorized
activities. Therefore, authorization to take piping plovers was not
requested at that time. Since submission of the original HCP and
issuance of the ITP, however, critical habitat for the piping plover
has been designated in the vicinity of Ponce de Leon Inlet, Volusia
County. Portions of piping plover designated critical habitat fall
within beach areas the County has proposed be accessible to vehicular
traffic. Southeastern beach mice (Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris)
have also been found in one additional area of coastal Volusia County
since submission of the original HCP and issuance of the ITP. The
Applicant has determined, however, that ongoing and planned future
actions related to vehicular beach access and access related activities
as specified in the revised HCP are not expected to take southeastern
beach mice. Consequently, authorization for take of this species has
not been requested.
In its original ITP application and HCP, the Applicant identified
five general beach driving activities that could lead to take of sea
turtles. These actions included: (1) Public safety operations, such as
those provided by lifeguards, emergency vehicles, and law enforcement
vehicles; (2) public vehicular access, including the potential for
shuttle service in certain areas; (3) routine beach maintenance and
sanitation; (4) access ramp maintenance; and (5) access for
concessionaires, including motorized rental vehicles such as all-
terrain vehicles and golf carts.
In addition to the beach driving activities addressed in the
original HCP, the Applicant has identified other beach access
activities under the control of Volusia County that were not addressed
in the original HCP that may result in take of sea turtles and piping
plovers. These activities include: (1) Actions necessary to implement
the terms and conditions of the ITP; (2) planned coastal construction
projects properly permitted by local, State, and/or Federal regulatory
agencies, such as seawall repair, beach nourishment, dune restoration,
and removal of windblown sand, where no reasonable upland alternative
exists; (3) additional scientific monitoring and studies; (4) emergency
shoreline protection projects properly permitted by local, State, and/
or Federal regulatory agencies; (5) non-routine beach maintenance and
sanitation, such as removal of hazardous materials, removal of storm-
generated
[[Page 9377]]
debris and/or obstacles that pose a public health or safety risk, and
other atypical circumstances requiring beach access (e.g., boat
groundings, downed aircraft, etc.); and (6) routine beach cleaning.
Other substantive changes to the original HCP that are currently
proposed by the Applicant include: (1) A reduction in the amount and
type of biological data to be collected for monitoring; (2) a 200-foot
expansion of public beach driving in the existing HCP Region 3
Transitional Beach Driving Area; (3) the removal of the light
management program as a formal component of HCP mitigation; (4) the
addition of funding and operation of a sea turtle rehabilitation
facility as a formal component of HCP mitigation; (5) the
implementation of an expanded county-wide sea turtle public awareness
and education program; (6) the construction and operation of a sea bird
rehabilitation facility at the Marine Science Center in the vicinity of
Ponce de Leon Inlet; (7) the implementation of annual piping plover
surveys within designated critical habitat; and (8) the restoration of
400 linear feet of dune habitat.
Except for the changes identified above, the Applicant proposes to
continue implementation of all minimization and mitigation measures
outlined in the original HCP. Generally, these measures include: (1)
Year-round closure of 18.92 miles of beach to public vehicular access;
(2) establishment of a year-round 30-foot conservation zone (i.e., no
public vehicle entry) and daytime only driving on 11.65 miles of beach;
(3) establishment of a year-round 15-foot conservation zone and daytime
only driving on 5.04 miles of beach; (4) annual training of County
beach management staff; (5) implementation of a public education
program; and (6) implementation of a vehicle rut removal program.
The Service has made a preliminary determination that renewal of
the ITP is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the
quality of the human environment within the meaning of section
102(2)(C) of NEPA. This preliminary information may be revised due to
public comment received in response to this notice and is based on
information contained in the EA and HCP.
The Service will evaluate the HCP and comments submitted thereon to
determine whether the application meets the issuance criteria
requirements of section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act. By conducting an intra-
Service section 7 consultation the Service will also evaluate whether
issuance of the section 10(a)(1)(B) ITP would comply with section 7 of
the Act. The results of this consultation, in combination with the
above findings, will be used in the final analysis to determine whether
or not to issue the ITP for the five species of sea turtle and the
piping plover.
Dated: January 31, 2005.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 05-3647 Filed 2-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P